Killjoy

"Where is George?" Avery asked.

"He got hisself attacked by an old brown bear. He didn't know she was there "until he saw one of her cubs," Ke

"Can I turn around now and put my hands down? You can see I'm cooperatin' and you got hold of my gun."

"Yeah, sure," John Paul said.

Avery was heading for the phone when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a lady's billfold sticking out between two sales slips in the trash can next to the cash register. She leaned down to pick it up. Then she caught her breath. It was a new, black Prada billfold. Carrie owned everything Prada made.

Ke

"Where'd you get the hundred-dollar bills?" John Paul asked.

"A customer."

"We didn't come here to rob you," Avery said. She opened the billfold, saw that it was empty, and held it up for John Paul to see. "I think this belongs to my aunt."

Ke

"Let go of me," she ordered. "I don't have time for this."

Ke

John Paul was surprised Avery wasn't frightened. If anything, he thought she looked put out. "That's not go

That remark got her full attention. She stopped squirming and asked, "Why?"

"Because I'm go

"No," she said. "Ke

"No way," he snarled close to her ear and tightened his hold.

His fingers were interlocked around her waist. She took hold of one of his little fingers and jerked it back hard. At the same instant, she lowered her chin, then slammed the back of her head into his face. She heard a crunch as he gasped in pain and let go.

"Ouch," she whispered. Damn it, that hurt. She stepped away from Ke

She noticed the incredulous look on John Paul's face. "What?" she asked.

His smile was slow and easy. "Not bad."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation and looked at Ke

"It belonged to my wife, Chrystal. She got tired of it and tossed it in the trash."

"Stop lying. This is a matter of life or death," she said, her voice hostile now. "I really don't care if you took any money out of the billfold," she repeated. "But I need to know where you got it."

"I just told you…"

He wasn't going to admit anthing. Avery's initial panic had dissipated as soon as she'd spotted the billfold because now she knew she was in the right place. The tightness was still in her chest, however, and she was becoming infuriated over the man's uncooperative attitude.

Ke

I'm go

"John Paul, I think you're going to have to shoot him after all," she said.

Ke

Fortunately, Ke

"And?" Avery prodded.

"And it was just a red scarf. It had a perfume smell to it Chrystal didn't care for, so she stuffed it back in the envelope and tossed it in the trash."

"How did you get the billfold?" she asked.

"I was gettin' to that," he said, resentment brimming in his words. "A woman came in just a little bit ago. She held up a brand-new hundred-dollar bill in exchange for that package with the scarf, and we took it, of course. Then she grabbed another manila envelope from our shelf. Just helped herself to it. She turned around so we wouldn't see what she was doin' and put that billfold inside. After she sealed it, she wrote your name on it and told us she'd give us another hundred if we'd promise to tell you that she was go

"But you opened the envelope as soon as she left?" John Paul asked.

"No, not that second. It nagged at Chrystal, though. She just had to have herself a peek inside, and when she saw the billfold

filled with money, she helped herself. Anybody would've done the same thing."

Avery didn't waste time arguing ethics with him. "What exactly did the woman with the hundred-dollar bills say?"

"I already told you what she said."

"Tell her again," John Paul ordered.

"She's go

"But you weren't going to tell us any of that, were you?" John Paul said. "You were going to send us on our way and never mention the billfold or the woman."

Ke

"Hardly worth getting your nose broken?" John Paul said.

"Look, I should have told you, and now I'm sorry I didn't," Ke

"Where is your wife?" Avery asked.

John Paul answered. "In the back office."

He grabbed her arm when she started in that direction. "Do you know how to use a gun?"

She pulled away from him and hurried to the back of the store. "I'm not going to shoot anyone, John Paul."

"Be careful," he ordered.

She took the warning to heart. When she reached the swinging door, she slowly pushed it open and looked inside. A woman was sitting with her back to the door. She was bent over with the receiver to her ear as Avery quietly walked forward. She heard the woman say, "No, I want five of them. That's right. Five. Now the last item is number A3491. The silver stereo with all them CD holders. I want eight of them. No, make it ten. That's it, hon. Are you ready for my credit card number? What? Oh, my name's Salvetti. Carolyn Salvetti. I'll be using my American Express card to pay for all this merchandise, but I want them shipped to my Arkansas home."

Avery was furious. She came up behind the woman and snatched the phone from her hand. Chrystal lurched out of her chair, sending it crashing into the wall. "Who do you…" she sputtered.

Keeping her eye on Chrystal, Avery spoke into the phone. "Cancel the order. She's using a stolen credit card."

"No," Chrystal shouted as Avery hung up the phone. "You got no right to come barging in here. No right at all. This is my private office. Now give me that phone back."

"You and Ke

"Hold on there a minute. We didn't do nothin' wrong."

Chrystal's eyes were set a little too close together and her moon-shaped face was twisted in anger. Not pretty, Avery thought

as she watched her step forward threateningly. Her brown eyes darted back and forth like a cornered rat's as she considered

her options. "There's no reason to call the police."

The woman towered over Avery and outweighed her by a good sixty pounds. When a sudden gleam came into her eyes, Avery knew what she was thinking, that her size gave her the advantage.